PIPC project may receive new investment worth RM25 bln

JOHOR BAHARU: The Pen g e r a ng I nt e g r at e d Petroleum Complex ( PIPC) project could potentially receive a RM25 billion investment from a company based in Southeast Asia, a source here said.

According to the source, the investment would cover the development of various oil and gas industrial facilities such as a petrochemical plant, Naphta Cracker, oil processing plant and others over a phase at the PIPC.

No details of the investor was disclosed by the source except that the company was expected to issue an official statement on the matter after the 13th General Election.

“This would be the second largest investment in PIPC after Petronas committed to investing RM60 billion for the Refinery And Petrochemical Integrated Development ( RAPID) project.”

The potential investor would build facilities similar to the ones to be built by Petronas for their RAPID project in PIPC, the source told Bernama.

The development of RAPID will encompass a land area of 8,000 hectares in PIPC, Pengerang, touted to establish Johor and Malaysia as the new oil and gas trade and industrial hub in Asia.

The national oil company’s RAPID is expected to be fully operational in 2016.

Pengerang, in the eastern part of Johor, is close to Singapore and faces the the busy east-west maritime route.

Asked on whether the investment would involve a company from Taiwan which had earlier indicated its interest to invest in the area, the source said ‘no’.

He, nevertheless, added that the Taiwanese company was still on a preliminary study of the PIPC.

The Taiwanese company has till this August to carry out its study.

Apar t from the major investment from Petronas, the PIPC, which is part of government projects under the Economic Transformation Programme, has attracted various other investments running into bi l lions of ringgit.

The investors include local company, Dialog Bhd, with its partners Royal Vopak and the Johor State Government, undertaking the construction of the Pengerang Independent Deepwater Petroleum Terminal ( PIDPT) in PIPC worth RM5 billion.

PIDPT wil l have storage capacity for five million cubic metres of oil.

Dialog and its partners have also announced their investment of RM4 billion to build a Liquefied Natural Gas terminal in PIPC. — Bernama